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“Let me guess. Fits with my snob persona?”
I laugh with him, but yes, that’s what I was thinking.
“Chloe says you’re really smart, so no, we’re not playing trivia. My knowledge doesn’t go past romance books and TV.”
He joins me, sits on the loveseat. Just to make sure I get the message that he’s not into me, he sits plastered against the arm, leaving plenty of room there for a small army between us.
“How long have you lived in St. Louis?”
“Three years.”
“All here?” He nods his head around to indicate my apartment.
“Yep.”
“Expensive?”
“Oh yeah.”
He nods, deep in thought.
“What’s the housing market like right now?”
Distracted by his hand smoothing the scruff on his cheeks and his chin, it takes me a second to answer.
“Um. Houses are selling before they’re even listed.”
“Great.”
“Are you really thinking of sticking around? Chloe says you’re a nomad.”
“I like to explore,” he agrees. “But Wamba needs someone to take over. If I do, if I buy from him, I’ll need to stick it out for a while.”
“I had no idea you were looking to buy his store.” I turn sideways and curl my legs up under me. “Thought you were just applying for a job.”
“Wamba’s been in business for over forty years. His kids don’t want anything to do with it.”
“That’s too bad.”
Gideon rests his head on the cushion and closes his eyes. “I liked Austin. Newport. Love living on the beaches in Florida. Vegas was interesting.”
“You lived in Vegas?”
I shouldn’t have asked. I don’t want to know. Why would a guy like this—someone with the courage and the desire to do something different every day—be attracted to a woman like me? I’m a desk jockey in his eyes. I do the corporate getup. I dress in professional attire and crunch numbers all day.
If he lived in Vegas, he probably had a little apartment off the strip, with interesting friends, things to do every night. He probably slept with a different woman every night of the week and shooed them out of his bed every morning so he could play some kind of music to entertain himself.
I don’t know why, but I find it sexy as hell, and I wish for just a moment that I could have been one of his women. Just once.
“Yeah.” He nods and rolls his head on the cushion to look at me. “It was cool. Played in a jazz lounge there for a while. Good times.”
“I bet.” I swallow a mouthful of disappointment. A guy like this isn’t going to have acrushon someone. He’s not going to be excited about vanilla sex in a super modern apartment in a city with an arch, the gateway to the West. Not when he’s been there and done the West already. “I’m gonna call it a night, Gideon.” I stand and slip past him. Our legs bump, and my heart jumps out of my chest. But I keep moving.
Until he leans forward and takes my hand.
